Frankie Dettori will attempt to ride to the rescue of Channel 4 Racing next week, having been signed up to appear on the programme during Royal Ascot and for the rest of the Flat season. Disappointing viewing figures are once more a hot topic in racing, following a peak of just 1.5m for Saturday’s Derby, and the hope is that some of the Dettori magic can help to improve matters.

Channel 4 insiders deny that co-opting Dettori was a response to the bad news about last weekend’s audience and the Italian himself said that background discussions had been going on for some time. There is no definite plan for his broadcasting role during Ascot week, and it appears he will be given time to find his niche, but it is believed that he will feature every day on The Morning Line, the early preview show which has sometimes recorded audiences below 200,000.

“I’ve been talking to Channel 4 about this opportunity for a while as I have always enjoyed their racing coverage,” Dettori was quoted as saying, “and I am delighted to be able to give viewers an insight into the great thrill of our sport.” He will combine his new TV work with his day job in the saddle, riding high-profile runners next week including Treve, the wildly impressive winner of last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

It might be imagined that Dettori is beginning to lay foundations for his life after retirement, having reached the age of 43, which is regarded as very senior for a jockey. But the suggestion from those connected with this deal is that he does not see himself quitting the weighing room “for many years to come”.

The news of his association with Channel 4 brought forth a statement supportive of the broadcaster from Charles Barnett, Ascot’s chief executive, who said: “We really are in a very privileged and sometimes overlooked position in the UK, in that our major meetings and Saturdays are covered so extensively on terrestrial television by Channel 4. To have all the races on terrestrial television at any meeting is almost unheard of, perhaps just Royal Ascot and the Melbourne Cup Carnival in Australia.

“We are the envy of the world in terrestrial television terms, including in Australia, where they don’t get close to the 90 days Channel 4 cover, and this is in no small part down to our broadcast partners who clear the decks to put racing first, the addition of Future Champions Day [in October] to this year’s calendar of live events being a perfect example.”

Even so, those at Channel 4 Racing will be acutely conscious of the pressure to produce good viewing figures during Ascot week, which will hardly be easy when so much of the sporting media’s attention will be focused on the football World Cup.

Senior racing officials, having made the decision to give Channel 4 exclusive terrestrial rights to the sport from January 2013, have been slow to offer public criticism of the broadcaster but let it be known in March that viewing figures would be closely scrutinised this year. Another disappointing week is likely to prompt some vivid expressions of discontent behind closed doors at the very least.